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usedtosail got a reaction from popeye the sailor in USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76
Thanks Patrick, although it is an idea that came from watching others on this site like EdT, with much less precision than his approach. And thanks for the likes too.
Well, I am pretty happy with the repairs to the starboard gun ports and plank sheer. Here are the results from the outside and the inside:
I am not totally happy with the squareness of the bottoms of the gun ports, so I will square them up a bit more with a rectangular sanding stick.
I continue planking the inner bulwarks on the port side. Just a few more sections to plank then I have to clean up the gun ports on this side. I will be doing that much more carefully so I don't have to repair them too.
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usedtosail got a reaction from popeye the sailor in USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76
Well, another major milestone, but not a good one. A major foul up, and when I say foul I mean something else. I was so happy to finish the inner bulwark planking on one side that I had to sand the sides flush with the gun port sides. They looked great from the inside. But then I had to go and turn the ship around. While sanding the sides of the planks I had also managed to sand some of the planking below the corners of the gun ports. Oh, I thought, I'll just sand these out if I can. Well, they sanded out but then when I looked back inside the bulwarks, I had sanded the plank sheer down under some of the gun ports, one so much it was half gone. At first I thought I would have to replace the plank sheer, but that would have been too disruptive. So on the worst one I cut out only the portion of the plank sheer under the gun port and replaced it with a new piece of the same wood I used to make the original plank sheer. I will fill in the joints with wood filler, so this should look OK when painted. Here you can see the damage under the gun port on the left and the cut out plank sheer under the gun port on the right:
I then realized I would still need to add a thin strip on the bottom of the gun port to make up the other material that was sanded away, which I did. Then I realized that I could just file the other damaged plank sheer sections square, and add a wider strip of wood over the bottom of the gun port and the plank sheer, which is what I did for the rest. Here you can see the two types of repairs:
They are all drying now so the next steps will be to sand these down (much more carefully) and fill the cracks with wood filler to try to make everything look like one piece. We shall see how this turns out.
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usedtosail got a reaction from SkerryAmp in USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76
Thanks Patrick, although it is an idea that came from watching others on this site like EdT, with much less precision than his approach. And thanks for the likes too.
Well, I am pretty happy with the repairs to the starboard gun ports and plank sheer. Here are the results from the outside and the inside:
I am not totally happy with the squareness of the bottoms of the gun ports, so I will square them up a bit more with a rectangular sanding stick.
I continue planking the inner bulwarks on the port side. Just a few more sections to plank then I have to clean up the gun ports on this side. I will be doing that much more carefully so I don't have to repair them too.
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usedtosail got a reaction from Geoff Matson in USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76
Thanks Patrick, although it is an idea that came from watching others on this site like EdT, with much less precision than his approach. And thanks for the likes too.
Well, I am pretty happy with the repairs to the starboard gun ports and plank sheer. Here are the results from the outside and the inside:
I am not totally happy with the squareness of the bottoms of the gun ports, so I will square them up a bit more with a rectangular sanding stick.
I continue planking the inner bulwarks on the port side. Just a few more sections to plank then I have to clean up the gun ports on this side. I will be doing that much more carefully so I don't have to repair them too.
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usedtosail got a reaction from CaptMorgan in USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76
Thanks Patrick, although it is an idea that came from watching others on this site like EdT, with much less precision than his approach. And thanks for the likes too.
Well, I am pretty happy with the repairs to the starboard gun ports and plank sheer. Here are the results from the outside and the inside:
I am not totally happy with the squareness of the bottoms of the gun ports, so I will square them up a bit more with a rectangular sanding stick.
I continue planking the inner bulwarks on the port side. Just a few more sections to plank then I have to clean up the gun ports on this side. I will be doing that much more carefully so I don't have to repair them too.
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usedtosail reacted to robnbill in USS Constitution by robnbill (Bill) - FINISHED - Mamoli - 1:93 kit - First Build - Bashed
I continued work on the Main Mast running rigging today. The first thing I did was to run the lowest Ratline across both sides of the lower shrouds. This is to allow me to attach the lines over the ratlines. Unlike the fore mast rigging, now that I know how the rigging is working, I am terminating rigging once I get a spar rigged. This way, The lower spars are static as I adjust the upper spar rigging. Last night I did notice that the starboard aft channel that I had moved was not holding perpendicular to the hull. Since this has a number of stays from the mizzen that attach to the aft end of the channel, it was pulling the channel up. To solve this, I pulled the channel back down to it's position and put glue in the holes where the chain plates came through. This fixed the issue since the chain plates are now holding the channel down.
I am happy with the progress so far. I am worried that I will run out of .4mm line before I am finished. As I get toward the end, I expect to run low on the various fittings. I have additional .4 line that I will use but it is a slightly different color than the current line (light beige vrs light gray. If I can get all of the fore and mizzen rigging done with this set, then I can use the new line in the fore and aft lines. This would look okay.
Anyway, below is a closeup of the lower main spar rigging. I also have a shot slightly off the bow showing the ship as she is looking now.
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usedtosail got a reaction from Cristiano in Venetian Polacre by Cristiano - FINISHED - XVIII century
This is a really nice rebuild, Cristiano. Your research methods and sculpting ability are outstanding.
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usedtosail reacted to Cristiano in Venetian Polacre by Cristiano - FINISHED - XVIII century
Thank you Hans!
I appreciate your compliments!
Both!
I used "not noble" materials for this decorations.
The small heads of the catheads has been made completely with green stuff (Kneadatite, commonly used in plastic model making).
The big heads have been made as follows:
-main body wood made and loosely carved;
-painted with spray primer;
-details (fur, ears) made with green stuff;
-again painted with spray primer before painting it with common acrylic decoupage paint.
The first layer of primer is mandatory, since the green stuff can be modelled on the head only if maintained lubricated with a small amount of water.
If the wood is not protected, it become wet and the green stuff detach from it (a big problem).
The stern decorations has been made in the same way: a wood frame primed, glued to the stern and later I added the green stuff on it.
Something can be seen in some old posts.
I know that is a untraditional way of proceeding, but for me at the moment is the only way to preserve the...fun on the work I am doing!
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usedtosail got a reaction from Starboard III in USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76
You got it Captain. Take all you want. I'm flattered.
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usedtosail got a reaction from SkerryAmp in USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76
Well, another major milestone, but not a good one. A major foul up, and when I say foul I mean something else. I was so happy to finish the inner bulwark planking on one side that I had to sand the sides flush with the gun port sides. They looked great from the inside. But then I had to go and turn the ship around. While sanding the sides of the planks I had also managed to sand some of the planking below the corners of the gun ports. Oh, I thought, I'll just sand these out if I can. Well, they sanded out but then when I looked back inside the bulwarks, I had sanded the plank sheer down under some of the gun ports, one so much it was half gone. At first I thought I would have to replace the plank sheer, but that would have been too disruptive. So on the worst one I cut out only the portion of the plank sheer under the gun port and replaced it with a new piece of the same wood I used to make the original plank sheer. I will fill in the joints with wood filler, so this should look OK when painted. Here you can see the damage under the gun port on the left and the cut out plank sheer under the gun port on the right:
I then realized I would still need to add a thin strip on the bottom of the gun port to make up the other material that was sanded away, which I did. Then I realized that I could just file the other damaged plank sheer sections square, and add a wider strip of wood over the bottom of the gun port and the plank sheer, which is what I did for the rest. Here you can see the two types of repairs:
They are all drying now so the next steps will be to sand these down (much more carefully) and fill the cracks with wood filler to try to make everything look like one piece. We shall see how this turns out.
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usedtosail got a reaction from Geoff Matson in USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76
Well, another major milestone, but not a good one. A major foul up, and when I say foul I mean something else. I was so happy to finish the inner bulwark planking on one side that I had to sand the sides flush with the gun port sides. They looked great from the inside. But then I had to go and turn the ship around. While sanding the sides of the planks I had also managed to sand some of the planking below the corners of the gun ports. Oh, I thought, I'll just sand these out if I can. Well, they sanded out but then when I looked back inside the bulwarks, I had sanded the plank sheer down under some of the gun ports, one so much it was half gone. At first I thought I would have to replace the plank sheer, but that would have been too disruptive. So on the worst one I cut out only the portion of the plank sheer under the gun port and replaced it with a new piece of the same wood I used to make the original plank sheer. I will fill in the joints with wood filler, so this should look OK when painted. Here you can see the damage under the gun port on the left and the cut out plank sheer under the gun port on the right:
I then realized I would still need to add a thin strip on the bottom of the gun port to make up the other material that was sanded away, which I did. Then I realized that I could just file the other damaged plank sheer sections square, and add a wider strip of wood over the bottom of the gun port and the plank sheer, which is what I did for the rest. Here you can see the two types of repairs:
They are all drying now so the next steps will be to sand these down (much more carefully) and fill the cracks with wood filler to try to make everything look like one piece. We shall see how this turns out.
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usedtosail got a reaction from Aussie048 in USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76
Well, another major milestone, but not a good one. A major foul up, and when I say foul I mean something else. I was so happy to finish the inner bulwark planking on one side that I had to sand the sides flush with the gun port sides. They looked great from the inside. But then I had to go and turn the ship around. While sanding the sides of the planks I had also managed to sand some of the planking below the corners of the gun ports. Oh, I thought, I'll just sand these out if I can. Well, they sanded out but then when I looked back inside the bulwarks, I had sanded the plank sheer down under some of the gun ports, one so much it was half gone. At first I thought I would have to replace the plank sheer, but that would have been too disruptive. So on the worst one I cut out only the portion of the plank sheer under the gun port and replaced it with a new piece of the same wood I used to make the original plank sheer. I will fill in the joints with wood filler, so this should look OK when painted. Here you can see the damage under the gun port on the left and the cut out plank sheer under the gun port on the right:
I then realized I would still need to add a thin strip on the bottom of the gun port to make up the other material that was sanded away, which I did. Then I realized that I could just file the other damaged plank sheer sections square, and add a wider strip of wood over the bottom of the gun port and the plank sheer, which is what I did for the rest. Here you can see the two types of repairs:
They are all drying now so the next steps will be to sand these down (much more carefully) and fill the cracks with wood filler to try to make everything look like one piece. We shall see how this turns out.
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usedtosail got a reaction from Ol' Pine Tar in USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76
Well, another major milestone, but not a good one. A major foul up, and when I say foul I mean something else. I was so happy to finish the inner bulwark planking on one side that I had to sand the sides flush with the gun port sides. They looked great from the inside. But then I had to go and turn the ship around. While sanding the sides of the planks I had also managed to sand some of the planking below the corners of the gun ports. Oh, I thought, I'll just sand these out if I can. Well, they sanded out but then when I looked back inside the bulwarks, I had sanded the plank sheer down under some of the gun ports, one so much it was half gone. At first I thought I would have to replace the plank sheer, but that would have been too disruptive. So on the worst one I cut out only the portion of the plank sheer under the gun port and replaced it with a new piece of the same wood I used to make the original plank sheer. I will fill in the joints with wood filler, so this should look OK when painted. Here you can see the damage under the gun port on the left and the cut out plank sheer under the gun port on the right:
I then realized I would still need to add a thin strip on the bottom of the gun port to make up the other material that was sanded away, which I did. Then I realized that I could just file the other damaged plank sheer sections square, and add a wider strip of wood over the bottom of the gun port and the plank sheer, which is what I did for the rest. Here you can see the two types of repairs:
They are all drying now so the next steps will be to sand these down (much more carefully) and fill the cracks with wood filler to try to make everything look like one piece. We shall see how this turns out.
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usedtosail got a reaction from GLakie in HM Cutter Cheerful 1806 by Chuck - FINISHED - 1:48 scale - kit prototype
Chuck, that planking looks great. And thank you for the drop plank lesson. When I was planking the MS Constitution the drop planks just didn't seem right, as I had to edge bend the "tail" to fit the previous plank. I see that you tapered the previous plank at the end to prevent this. Next time I will know to do it right. Thanks again. Also, the MS Constitution instructions and plans show to taper the wale planks at the stem.
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usedtosail reacted to scott larkins in Rattlesnake by scott larkins - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64
Okay, time for the four staircases. I show the process I used here. All four staircases were the same. The plans wanted you to make a jig to set the stairs all the same, but I didn't have the patients for it so I eye balled the design process. Perhaps others would have made the jig, and my hat's off to you for doing so. My patients weren't there for it this time.
Here I set up the angle for the stair case, note the bottom footing and the front that would sit up against the decking. I also rounded off the top to make it look a little better designed.
Once I figured out the angle I cut out 8 identicle pieces of wood and sanded them all to be the same way. By this I mean I lumped them all together and took to sanding them as one piece.
Then I used a small piece of scrap wood and simply moved it up the side of the ladder and marked each stopping point. I think I got lucky because the plans called for 6 steps and when taking in the angle, the piece of scrap wood it all measured out to be exactly 6 steps. I guess sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. LOL
I measued the width of the deck where the ladder would be placed so as to make the ladder the appropriate width. Word of caution here. When making the measurement and then cutting out the step, make sure to take off the width of the side of the ladder or it may end up being too wide. And no, I didn't make that mistake, but I almost did. Again, I cut out all of the steps the same width, stacked them together for each ladder and then did a finished sanding so all of the steps where the same. Then I glued each step on the lines I previously marked and let them dry. Once dried I glued the other side of the ladder to the steps. Make sure to look at the steps when you glue that second side on. Some of the steps may not have dried to the first side straight. Fortunetly it's easy enough to straighten those out.
And here is the finished product. Even without the jig, I think they came out pretty good.
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usedtosail reacted to jct in HALF MOON by jct - FINISHED - Corel
Hi everyone...been quite a while since I've posted an update...work has been keeping me too busy for words.
Managed to make a bit of progress, the shrouds are finally mounted and the deadeyes rigged, not without a minor setback...the first fixture i made to mount the deadeyes was a failure it allowed way to much slack in the shrouds so when the dead-eye lashings were pulled tight there was no distance between them. So I stripped them all off and started again, this time returning to my old standby fixture material...corrugated cardboard
First I waxed down the new shroud lines to eliminate any spring back, then laid out the spacing on the the cardboard, all the deadeyes were mounted on the cardboard with stripped floral wire, then the shrouds were pulled down and ca glued to the deadeyes. Finally rigged out the lashings...and that's were she sits. Hope to get more down in the upcoming weeks. Pics follow, thanks for your time and attention, sorry for the focus...sharper next time
J
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usedtosail reacted to EdT in Young America 1853 by EdT - FINISHED - extreme clipper
Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 99 – Rails and bulwark continued
Most of the work since the Thanksgiving holiday has consisted of fitting the rails and planking around the upper stern. This has been challenging and there has been some rework along the way. I will forgo a full tutorial and summarize.
The planksheer rail was fitting around the stern in an earlier post. To fit the members above this and to refine its exact curve better, I decided to start at the top where the heights are easiest to measure as shown in the first picture - and to adjust if necessary.
The top of the planking around the poop corresponds with the top of the poop decking at the side. This is also the top of the frames and the underside of the fancy rail that caps the bulwarks around the hull. These heights are critical.
In the next picture the first strake of planking below the main rail has been boiled and clamped to dry.
The main rail was shaped to fit and is only pinned in place. It will be painted white and the surrounding hull - and the lower rail -black, so it will not be permanently installed until much later. The dark, saturated plank being fit is held tightly against it. These planks not only curve around the stern but twist to fit the slant of the underlying timbers. Lots of new clamps here made for this awkward work.
The next picture shows the third and lowest planking strake being fit.
The height gauge is being used here to check heights at points around the stern. The lower rail has been removed for this. The next picture showing the finished work is the acid test. I’m not sure which was a bigger problem in judging this, my glasses or the camera lens, but this is the final version.
Both rails have now been replaced with newly formed, clean versions. The originals suffered from all the fitting, clamping and refitting. The next picture shows a different angle. All this work was done in hard maple because it will be painted and it was easier to bend.
The main rail is still only fitted temporarily. The planking is now ready for Treenailing. There will be a carved, gilded America eagle placed between the rails. I can’t wait to plank below the lower rail around the stern – more twisted planks and more clamping issues. A job for the new year.
With the stern work completed the top members around the rest of the hull will be easy to fit. In the next picture the mizzen channels are being installed.
The top channels are set at the height of the main rail and the lower channels just below the planksheer. Notches for the chains will be cut later in situ. The channels will be capped with moldings much later. In the next picture the starboard main channel is being installed.
There is still much work to be done on the port side. In the next picture a section of main rail is pinned in place and one of the topside planks held against it.
There are two of these 6” x 3” planking strakes above the rail. They must fit tightly down on the rail and the channels. The channels were most likely bolted to the outside of the planking to keep them outside the main watertight skin, but I am installed them against the frames to improve their strength on the model. The appearance will be the same. In the last picture the uppermost planking strake is being held in place to check its height against the tops of the frames.
A white capping rail – the fancy rail – will fit over this, but much later. There is no inside planking above the main rail, so the fit on the frames will be visible.
Ed
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usedtosail reacted to HIPEXEC in USS Constitution by Hipexec - FINISHED - Constructo - 1:82
Here's my first ratline. At the rate it took me to tie this first one...it will take me 67 man hours to tie the over 200 ratlines. Thank goodness I'm retired!!!
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usedtosail reacted to robnbill in USS Constitution by robnbill (Bill) - FINISHED - Mamoli - 1:93 kit - First Build - Bashed
I spent the morning repairing the Bowsprit. I cut the bindings at the base to the spar, then cut the spar on each side of the forward metal hoop. I soaked some acetone around the hoop then used a small drill to drill holes in the wood through the hoop. This allowed me to remove the remaining spar piece from the hoop. I used an exact blade and cleaned up the mid spar on the bowsprit in preparation of mounting the new one.
Then I cut a pice of 3mm dowel to the length required for the replacement. I marked the taper point on the dowel. I put the dowel into the lathe and turned it and used sandpaper to taper it according to the drawings. I then drilled the two 1mm holes in the end of the spar first by drilling .6mm holes followed by the 1mm drill.
I sanded and stained the spar. I took a heavy black line and dropped it around the end of the mid spar. This would be underneath the new spar and retain the spacing between the two spars. Once I was happy with the, I used CA to lock it in place. Then I continued to wrap the spar but this time including the but end of the new spar. I continued until I achieved the necessary wraps then locked everything with CA.
Next I started restringing the spar. I rethreaded the two lines going through the holes and replaced the rings between them. Then I related the remaining lines taking care to insure they were not tangled. I touched up the end of the spar with white paint. and moved on to the fore mast to continue the rigging.
I spent a bit of time reviewing the Mamoli plans to understand exactly how they were notating the end points of each line. Most of the lines I had installed were not locked in place yet. I then cleaned up the lines locking them with CA and trimming the loose ends off per the plans. I will have to go back to these later and add all the requisite coils.
The I continued working up the mast . I will continue with the fore mast tomorrow. Hopefully with the majority of that mast completed. I have attached photos of the spar repair before and after.
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usedtosail reacted to rafine in Frigate Essex by Rafine - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Kitbashed
The hammock netting has now been installed in the hammock cranes. The netting is the veil material from the kit. After cutting into oversize strips, I steamed it with an iron to remove the kinks and soften it. The strips were then glued to the crane bottoms and the wire at the top on each side, using medium viscosity CA. Final trimming was done using a small scissor and a razor blade.
With completion of this item, work on the hull is now finished for the time being. The remaining hull work ( head, lantern, anchors, stern boat ), will be done during, or at the completion of, the rigging. I am about to begin the standing rigging.
Bob
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usedtosail reacted to augie in USF Confederacy by Augie & Moonbug - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:64
Although the assembly line is still going full throttle, thought it was time for an update.
I set up a mock cannon station (thanks, MOBBSIE) to verify the required length of the breech lines. Turns out, Chuck was dead on with 3 1/4", eye to eye. One eyebolt/ring is seized to one end of the line, a second eye/ring slipped on then the cannon (and one more eye/ring). Then the other end is seized to an eye/ring at the exact length. That's 0.018 Morope by the way:
The cannon was then glued to the carraige and the loose eyebolts attached to pre-drilled holes. The cap squares over the trunnions were simulated with short strips of 1500 grit sandpaper. I have used painted artists tape in the past but this was much easier.
The assembled gun was then glued to the deck and the breech line rings attached to pre-drilled holes in the bulwark:
Here are the sternmost 5 guns in position. Keep in mind that these guns will be totally obscured by the quarterdeck overhead:
I experimented with the tackles but they just look too crowded to my eye. I'll re-evaluate when all guns are positioned.
Here's what it looks like from outside:
Finally, Ron from NZ asked for an overall shot:
Being a 'few' guns short of a 21 gun salute, I'll get back to work and hope to have then all in by Christmas. No rush ---- I'm having too much fun. Heck, the Admiral (who last wandered over to my side of the shop when I was cutting out the bulkheads) proclaimed 'This looks pretty nice ----- but where do you THINK you're going to put it'? I have about another year to negotiate .
Everyone stay well. And keep making my day with your updates.
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usedtosail got a reaction from GLakie in USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76
You got it Captain. Take all you want. I'm flattered.
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usedtosail got a reaction from GLakie in USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76
Tim, I don't mind at all. That is what I love about this site. A year ago I would have had no idea how to tackle something like this.
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usedtosail got a reaction from popeye the sailor in USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76
Well, here are the results. I planked a few sections of the inner bulwarks with the riveted planks. I still need to trim the ends to be flush with the gun ports. Not as precise as I have seen other modellers create these rivets, but I think the overall effect is what I was after. It will be a while before they are painted, so I am curious to see what they will look like then.
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usedtosail got a reaction from SkerryAmp in USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76
Well, here are the results. I planked a few sections of the inner bulwarks with the riveted planks. I still need to trim the ends to be flush with the gun ports. Not as precise as I have seen other modellers create these rivets, but I think the overall effect is what I was after. It will be a while before they are painted, so I am curious to see what they will look like then.